The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
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Big Think interviews Cornel West, Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, on the question of Barack Obama. West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, and civil rights activist, as well as a prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America. BIG THINK: How do you imagine the legacy of Barack Obama? CORNEL WEST: I think that my dear brother Barack Obama, President Obama - he's a very complicated brother. He has a sterling democratic rhetoric at his...
On Friday, 30 October 2009, it was announced that the crisis in Honduras was over, as the military coup that had exiled President Manuel Zelaya and brought four months of repression and human rights violations to the country had been resolved. Days later, however, the agreement appears more like an attempt to legitimize the coup than to reverse it. All parties involved supported the original word of a breakthrough, a week ago, with ousted President Zelaya expecting his reinstatement to the...
Efforts to prosecute those who may have committed war crimes in Israel's war on Gaza have spread beyond the Middle East to South Africa reports Imran Garda of Al Jazeera News. Lawyers working on behalf of two pro-Palestinian groups in South Africa are compiling evidence, which shows that South African nationals fought for the Israeli Defence Force in Operation Cast Lead against Gaza during December 08/Jan 09. The lawyers have identified at least 75 South Africans who fought...
Discussing language, politics and the role of the media in information dissemination at the Commonwealth Club in California earlier this month, Noam Chomsky also makes some interesting observations about nuclear powers, including Pakistan, which this week has been under siege of violence. Newspapers vs. the Internet Responding to the following question, Chomsky reflects on the role of newspapers and journalism in modern day society as well as access to information. In light of the...
Dubbed by the National Review as "the most dangerous political philosopher in the West" and the New York Times as "the Elvis of cultural theory," Slovenian philosopher and public intellectual Slavoj Zizek has written over fifty books on philosophy, psychoanalysis, theology, history and political theory. In his latest book, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, Zizek analyzes how the United States has moved from the tragedy of 9/11 to what he calls the farce...
According to United Nations Resolution 1820, rape is a war crime that must be responded to. However, the women of Congo are being abandoned by the world as the number raped recently reached 500,000. Rape is the weapon of choice in the war in Congo where competing militia fight over the country's valuable natural resources, particularly coltan, which is an essential mineral, used in cell phones and laptops. Worse still, neighbouring countries are fighting their wars on Congolese soil where...
